Chapter 108: Conclusion

As I left the bathroom, I noticed Arnold Johnson was still sitting by the chess table in a quiet corner. He wasn't currently playing with anyone, and the pieces were carefully set up.As I walked up to the atrium, he looked at me, "Mr. Somnus," he said in a firm voice. "Care to join me for a game of chess?"

I walked over, confidently. "Sure, Mr. Johnson."

He pointed to the chair across from him, his eyes sharp. "I hope you're not too intimidated. I play to win."

I chuckled lightly as I took my seat. "Well, it would not be fun if I was the only one trying."

With a nod, he began moving his pieces, starting with a classic e4. I responded with e5.

"Tell me, where are you from?" Arnold asked, his eyes focused on the board, but his interest clearly on me.

"I'm from Wahneta. It's a small town by Orlando," I replied, considering my next move.

Arnold raised an eyebrow. "And your family? Were you always part of the upper class?"

"My family wasn't wealthy," I answered steadily. "I built my wealth from the ground up."

"It seems you've amassed quite an impressive fortune at a young age. How exactly did you climb this far?"

I moved my knight, considering my words carefully. "I cherry-pick companies I believe in. I seem to have a knack for identifying potential where others see risk. Maybe it's the right intuition or the right timing."

Arnold's fingers tapped the edge of the table. "Jack... you can't fool me, I know you are utilizing my son. Don't think I won't scrutinize that closely. He's still my son, and I expect him to be careful about who he partners with."

"I assure you, I'm not hiding any of my intentions from him."

As we continued our game, I placed Arnold's queen in a tough spot. He narrowed his eyes, clearly irked by the turn of events.

"You're quite skilled," he admitted reluctantly, adjusting his pieces with a touch of frustration.

"Losing would be insincere, wouldn't it?" I replied, moving my bishop.

I felt the game shifting in my favor.

Finally, I executed a checkmate, and Arnold sat back, his gaze fixed on the board in disbelief.

"You've bested me," he said, his eyes locking onto mine with a sharp gaze. "But remember, Jack—every move in this family comes with a price. If you ever pull any shady business with Sam, don't think for a second that I'll just stand by idly."

"I wouldn't even think of it," I replied, meeting his gaze.

As I stood up, the accountant, Adam, walked up with a polite smile. "Mind if I take the next game?" he asked.

I returned his smile and motioned to the chair. "The board's yours."

Arnold then looked up at me from the chess board with a cold look of intimidation. "Thank you for the game, Mr. Somnus."

"My pleasure," I replied, offering a slight bow of my head.

'No different than a mafia indeed,' I thought.

After leaving the chess board, I walked over to a plush leather couch and sat down next to Derec Johnson.

He looked at me as if he were trying to figure out if his eyes weren't playing tricks on him.

I leaned back, casually resting an arm along the back of the couch, keeping my eyes forward, deliberately avoiding his. "Tell me, Derec," I began. "Do you think that interview on Tuesday will still be necessary?"

His face stayed the same, but there was a flicker of something—amusement, perhaps.

"No, sir. I don't think it will be needed," he said with a slight smile.

I nodded. "Good. Then I'll see you after I get back from my cruise."

Just then, the main doors swung open, and a woman walked in, grabbing everyone's attention. She had sharp, almond-shaped eyes that seemed to see right through me and high cheekbones. Her full lips curled into a confident smile and her brown hair flowed in soft waves.

She was wearing a red dress with sparkly stones.

It was clear that she was wealthy.

"Arnold!" she called out, smiling brightly as she walked up to Arnold Johnson. "I'm so sorry I couldn't get here earlier. The charity gala ran late."

Arnold's stern look softened as he turned to her. "Emily... it's not an issue," he said, clearly happy to see her. "I'm glad you're here."

This woman was Emily; she was Gabriel's wife.

'And Gabriel is cheating on her...' I thought.

it's not the weirdest thing about this family...

Emily joined Gabriel. The two of them looked like a fancy couple, but it was clear that their relationship was troubled. Even though they had a child together, there was no real love between them.

However, it is plausible that love did exist in this place after all, because Emily and Evelyn soon slipped away somewhere and were gone for over half an hour...

Gabriel didn't seem to care.

The party continued, with everyone still talking about business and family matters.

Those guests wanted to create connections and Gabriel was one of their main targets, as he was the one most favored by Arnold.

Even though he did all those crazy things, somehow he was still the most competent person in this family.

I found myself talking with Sam. He told me that reporting what happened during dinner wouldn't do any good. "People have tried before," he said. "My father has plenty of ways to protect himself."

We moved to a quieter spot where Adam, the accountant, joined us. We discussed the transfer of over $300 million of Arnold's assets to Johnson Trading Orlando.

This was the reward that Arnold was granting Sam.

As the birthday finally finished, I found myself back in the limousine with Sam.

The day had been long, and though I was tired, Sam seemed even more so.

He slumped a little in his seat. "What do you think, Jack? Is Gabriel the only one I should worry about?"

I considered his question. "How well do you know Emily?" I asked.

"Emily Heart?" Sam thought about it for a moment. "She's Gabriel's wife. Her family runs a big media empire; they own a lot of publishers. What about her?"

"Gabriel is cheating on her. And Emily's likely cheating on him too."

"Isn't that a non-issue?" Sam looked puzzled.

"Not when she's having an affair with your sister."

Sam turned his head sharply at me. "Wait—Evelyn and Emily? Are you serious?"

"Yeah... I would not cross out Evelyn just yet; I think she might be planning something," I said.

As we drove, I thought about how things were shaping up.

In my previous timeline, Doyle had been completely focused on his own small investments over the past year. Even though he always ended up at the bottom of his father's rankings, his steady profits kept him in the race for the inheritance.

This time around, things might go differently for him.

On the other hand, Evelyn had faced a massive setback. She had agreed to Doyle's plan, which turned out to be a huge mistake. This move had significantly hurt her position, and she was undoubtedly scrambling to find ways to recover and re-enter the competition for the inheritance.

...

After we got back to Gainesville and I had a good night's sleep, I decided to start Sunday with a light workout at the gym.

I kept it easy because I had a marathon planned for later that afternoon. Raheem was going to pace me.

The marathon went smoothly. I finished the race in 2 hours and 59 minutes, which was right on target. The exercises I'd been doing really helped build a strong core, and that made it easier to keep up a good pace throughout the run.

While we were cooling down, Raheem mentioned that he was dropping out of university.

...

On Monday, the team from Johnson Trading and I flew out to San Jose for the meeting with Google's board of investors.

The group included Danny, Sam, and a few others.

We arrived at the boardroom, which had floor-to-ceiling windows and a stunning view of the city.

The Google investors were not easily moved. Just as I thought they would, they were very unwilling to get their equity diluted.

They were also skeptical about my ability to contribute any good ideas for them.

I mean... who wouldn't? I was just an economics student.

The meeting went on for more than four hours, with three breaks in between.

In the end, I had to share some big ideas. I talked about connecting all Google services on mobile phones in a way that would really grab people's attention.

I mentioned how we could make email work on phones, have an easy-to-use search, and more.

Then I made a deal. I told them I had an amazing idea that I'd share right then if they agreed to our terms.

They did; they agreed to give up 5% of equity right away and another 6% based on revenue milestones.

"So, what other suggestions do you have, Mr. Somnus?" One of the guys from Sequoia Capital asked.

"Navigation."

"Navigation? There is MapQuest already." The co-founder of Google, Sergey, raised an eyebrow. "If we were to compete with it, our navigation would need to be significantly better."

"Have you heard of Keyhole?" I asked. S~eaʀᴄh the Nôvelƒire.net website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

"Keyhole?"

I explained, "Keyhole is a program that lets you view the world from above, from satellites positioned all around the globe. It doesn't just give black-and-white maps of the roads, like MapQuest. It gives you detailed 3D views of buildings."

"I'd like to see that." Sergey seemed interested.

I came prepared. Pulling out my notebook, I booted up the Keyhole program. Although access was restricted, it was enough to demonstrate it.

I quickly brought up a few locations, and the detailed 3D maps and aerial views appeared on screen.

I showed my laptop to a couple people and, literally, these executives started shouting out their addresses because they wanted to zoom in on their houses from space.

Sergey eventually got up, plugged the notebook into a projector and showed everyone the Keyhole program on the big screen.

"This thing's cool, and we should buy it," he said.